Teaching of 3 Rs in 'crisis', says CBI

The number of pupils leaving school without mastering the three Rs has reached "crisis" proportions, the CBI warned today.

Sir Digby Jones, CBI director-general, called for schools to be better funded so children could be taught in smaller classes.

In an interview with Teachers' TV News, Sir Digby said: "We've got something like a fifth of the adult population in this country who can't read, write or count.

"We've got half the kids who do a GCSE in the summer not getting grade C or above in English and maths.

"This is a crisis. We're the fourth biggest economy on Earth, we're one of the greatest trading nations on the planet and we haven't even got half the school leavers equipped to deal with the world.

"So it's of crisis proportion," he said.

"Business has the right surely to turn round to a school and say: 'What are you doing to deliver kids who can read, write and count?' "I don't think teachers can run away from that."

Sir Digby also called for education to be 'better funded than it is', to provide more teachers and smaller class sizes.

He welcomed more government investment in education but said there was "another long way to go".

Sir Digby said more attention should be given to teaching foreign languages such as Spanish and Mandarin.

"We're lucky. We speak the global language of business and someone who doesn't learn any other language can get by in the world because of English," he said.

"But if you were going to equip a child today to get on in the 21st century and you were anywhere in the world you'd teach them three languages - you'd teach them English first, you'd teach them Spanish second and you'd teach them Mandarin third."

A spokesman for the Department for Education said ministers had made "record investment" in education.

"We have the best ever results in English and maths - 85,000 more pupils are now leaving primary schools with the expected level of English and 95,000 in maths.

"This year's GCSE results not only showed a record number achieving five good GCSEs but also the biggest rise in maths pass rate for five years and further increases the number achieving English GCSE.

"We agree that languages for business are vital and we're glad to see ever increasing numbers of pupils opting for languages such as Mandarin Chinese."